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Sunday, November 30, 2014

We're so glad that you're joining us for Much Ado About Monday this week. Did y'all have a nice Thanksgiving? Ours was wonderful and crazy. Imagine 7 children under the age of 5 all sleeping under one roof... chaos definitely ensued! But, it was a blast. My boys were excited to see their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and we all enjoyed a delicious meal together.

Once the sun went down, my sisters and I headed out for a bit of Black Friday shopping! We got some great deals and managed to get home before midnight. All in all, a perfect Thanksgiving!

Then, on Saturday, we headed out to the tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. We never did this while living in Texas, so the boys were extremely excited to start this new family tradition. The rest of the weekend has been spent nursing a few sick kiddos, decorating the house and watching football.

Here at Huckleberry Love, we took a week off so that we could concentrate on the holiday and our families. We're all feeling refreshed and can't to share all of our newest projects with you this month!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Happy Sunday, y'all!Thanks for stopping by our 87th Much Ado About Monday link party! Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is this week! We are all so excited at our house, to welcome friends and family to share in the holiday. I can't wait to try out some new recipes, and cook my first turkey! This weekend, we started on our outdoor Christmas lights and worked some on Miss Ella's American girl doll house.

This doll house is absolutely huge, and maybe a little over the top, but totally worth it! I really have to give a shout out to Ana White, and how amazing her plans are :-) Now we just have to paint and decorate each room, which I'm really looking forward to!

This week, I shared a recipe for spaghetti squash au gratin, and Emily rounded up 10 gorgeous thanksgiving centerpieces. I'm definitely getting some inspiration for my Thanksgiving tablescape! We've got plenty of projects coming up for the holidays and are always excited to see all of yours! If you joined our party last week, thank you, we loved all that you had to share! As always, we would love to give a special shout out to our features for this week:

Saturday, November 22, 2014

We're all foodies at my house, including the kids. We're so blessed to have children who try anything, and enjoy most everything....Especially because I have a love of trying new recipes. So because it's fall, I've been experimenting with different squash recipes to liven things up a bit. And boy did I find a great one. I just have to share this awesome recipe with you guys.

Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin. Seriously quick and easy, and great as a main dish, or a spectacular side. Maybe the cheese negates the overall healthiness of the dish, but it's definitely a nice change to use the squash in place of the potatoes. So here it goes:

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash (medium to large)

1 onion, diced

1 tbsp butter

3/4 cup sour cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 + 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375.

Cut squash lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place face-down in a microwave safe dish with a 1/2 inch of water. Cover and microwave for about 15 minutes, or until tender. You can also bake it in the oven for 45 minutes, but who has time for that? Just sayin!

While the squash is cooking, caramelize the onions. I added a tablespoon of butter with a little olive oil, let the onions caramelize, and then added in my garlic. Set this aside in a large bowl, and mix in other spices.

Now here's the tricky part, without burning yourself, take the piping hot squash, and scrape the flesh out with a fork. Or if you have time, it might be a better idea to wait until it's cooled down a bit.

Add the spaghetti squash to the onion mixture, then add the cheese and sour cream. Stir until it's just combined. Pour it into a baking dish, and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly, then broil for a few more minutes until the top is browned.

The result is amazing! {And, I'd like to think a teensy bit healthier than the potato version} My whole family can't get enough of this stuff. Go, make this for dinner tonight!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is all ready next week? This will be the first Thanksgiving that we've spent in Ohio with my family in 6 years. We've either stayed in Texas and celebrated with friends, or we've spent the week in Florida with my husband's family. So, I am very excited to spend the holiday at my sister's house with her family, my parents and a few other sisters and their families. There is sure to be delicious food, laughter and fun... and Black Friday shopping, of course!

I absolutely love a beautiful Thanksgiving table. My sister isn't the craftiest of people, so I decided to find a few beautiful, but simple centerpiece ideas that would be easy for her to recreate for her own table this year. Most of them incorporate natural elements- pumpkins, flowers, apples, pinecones, acorns- and they look gorgeous, without being too overstated, in the way or flamboyant. I hope you find something that is just the thing for your table this Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

I just love all of these ideas! None of them are time consuming and most use items that you can find around the house or can easily purchase at your local grocery store. Who says you have to spend an arm and a leg and hours of your precious time to have a pretty Thanksgiving table?

Have a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends, food, laughter and love!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Things are finally starting to feel like winter here in Houston, thank goodness. I was getting so tired of wearing our summer clothes and couldn't wait to break out all our cozy sweaters and leggings. Plus, it's really hard to decorate for fall when it's 90 degrees outside, never mind decorating for Christmas. Looks like it cooled down just in time.

But we didn't let the winter weather deter us from hitting up the local Renaissance Festival this weekend. The kids all wore multiple layers under their costumes and stayed toasty warm while having a blast. My son {who wore his dragon Halloween costume} ran around roaring at everybody and all the festival-goers bowed down to my daughter in her queen costume. She ate it up. We saw a ton of shows and had a lot fun.

This week, on the blog, I shared the adorable Gloria dress, a simple and cute dress that I was chosen to pattern test. I'm not gonna lie...I already have several more of the dresses planned for my girls.

Our party last week turned up some amazing projects. Thank you to everyone who linked up! Our top 4 picks this week are:

Friday, November 14, 2014

So I have recently discovered the world of knit fabrics. After working with wovens for so long, I was a little intimidated by the thought of trying to branch away from that. But after my last pattern test, I was completely hooked.

Knits are so much fun to work with! They don't unravel, you don't have to find the grain line, no buttons or zippers to worry about...I am really smitten with knit fabrics. Which is why I was so thrilled to be picked as a pattern tester for Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's newest dress, the Gloria dress.

I was chosen to sew the 12 month size for my youngest daughter. This dress has the option to be a casual, cute play dress (which is the route I went) or a fancy, lacy party dress. The party dress also has the option of a partially line or completely lined bodice.

I used this adorable print from Birch Fabrics for the skirt of the dress and I LOVE it! The colors are so amazing and I think the print is amazing.

For the top of the dress, I wanted a solid color and figured I could just head to Joann's and pick up a jersey knit. Unfortunately, I learned a very valuable lesson with this project: not all knits are created equal.

The fabric was too thin and it stretched too much when sewing. It did not recover very well, resulting in a larger neckline that gaped a bit in the back. *insert sad panda face*

The dress is still super cute, even with the larger neckline, but my perfectionist tendencies are probably going to win out and I may have to remake the top, using quality knit.

This dress is just too cute for cheap fabric to keep it down!

After trying on the first dress, I realized the top was a bit off, so I whipped together this second dress, using the leftover fabric from my last pattern tester dress. This knit fabric is not just beautiful but so soft and it worked so perfectly with this pattern.

Look at the difference in the neck binding! It turned out so good with this dress, I can't even stand it. Say it with me: quality knit, quality knit, quality knit. It totally makes a difference.

I was able to make this dress in under an hour, from cutting it out to trying it on my model {while also helping my oldest daughter design and sew a Barbie skirt}.

I love patterns like that! Such a perfect project for beginners {provided they learn from my poor knit fabric mistake}.

This dress fits like a dream and is just the cutest thing on her.

The Gloria Dress also has three sleeve options: short, 3/4 length, and long sleeve.

I have a bunch of knit fabrics that I am waiting on to ship to me, and as soon as they get here, you can bet I will be cutting out a few more of these adorable dresses for my daughter.

The Gloria Party Dress is available from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and in sizes 3 months up to size 12. Be sure to check out the beautiful party dresses the other girl's made using the stretch lace option. Super cute and perfect for a Christmas dress!